Then, as Green Party candidates counted signatures, the feeling was one of optimism. Volunteers and some paid organizers had collected, by their count, about 10,000 of the 17,000 signatures needed—just in Philadelphia.

If the rest of the state looked the way Philadelphia did, they were sure to go over the 17,000 required to reach the ballot, it was thought.

Then, yesterday, it was announced the expected signatures out of Allegheny, York, Harrisburg, and the rest of the state did not add up to what they’d hoped—in fact, with less than 48 hours to deadline, they were still about 3,000 signatures short.

Now it’s official: The Green and Libertarian parties will not be on the gubernatorial ballot in Pennsylvania this year.

“I think we’ll have collected about 14,000 of the 17,000 required. I don’t have an authoritative account,” Glover wrote in his email this morning. “Some are trickling in, too late, while others never got mailed. The legal size petition made it less likely that people could print petitions at home. Then notarization was an extra cost and hassle.”

He’s talking about his petition papers being the same ones the state used during the 2012 election, which were longer and harder, he said, to fit in an envelope and send to volunteers around the state.

Ken Krawchuk, the Libertarian potential, also did not reach the threshold.

Glover, in part, blamed the media for their lack of attention to his attempt at a candidacy, in the email.

“Had we gotten significant media coverage we could have raised the money with which to hire Cheri Honkala’s petition folks early, thus ensuring the 25,000 signatures to withstand challenge,” he said, noting media coverage would have equaled donations, which would have helped him hire organizers to collect signatures instead of relying, for the most part, on friends and volunteers to walk their neighborhoods on weekends and after the work day.

“Most people want more choices on the ballot,” he continued, “either because they’re not satisfied with the corporate parties or because they believe more voices are healthy for democracy.”

About The Author

Randy LoBasso is the winner of the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association's 2014 Distinguished Writing Award for his news and politics coverage at Philadelphia Weekly. He has also contributed to Alt Ledes, Salon, The Guardian and PennLive.